


Scaredy Cats

by acme146



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Brother Feels, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Tag, Episode: s07e14 Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie, Gen, Sam Winchester Has a Fear of Clowns, Season/Series 07
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 11:04:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16173776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acme146/pseuds/acme146
Summary: The brothers need a break after Sam's showdown with the clowns. Laughter is sometimes the best medicine for fear.





	Scaredy Cats

            They should have driven on that night. They should have gone further, they needed to keep moving.

            But damn it, Dean was tired, and Sam was wincing from the pressure of his seatbelt against his ribs, and they wanted to sleep in a bed instead of the backseat of a car.

            So Dean parked the old car in the Tiki Motel parking lot and booked their room for one more night. Sam stayed in the car to avoid any questions. He was going to need to change right away.

            When they got to the room Dean fell onto the bed and closed his eyes. “Go shower and change, Sammy. Don’t use all the hot water.”

            When a few seconds passed without Sam moving, Dean groaned and opened his eyes. “Dude, come on, I’m tired—”

            Sam was standing in front of the mirror, still covered in glitter and staring at himself, a wide, stupid grin on his face. “I look ridiculous.”

            “Yeah, you do.” Dean sat up. “Seriously, go change before someone looks in the window or something.”

            Sam turned to him, the same grin on his face. “Give me a hug.”

            “What?” Dean got to his feet and backed away as Sam advanced on him. “Get away from me, bitch!”

            “Come on, Dean!” Sam was trying to use puppy-dog eyes, but his manic smile made them look horrifying. “I had a bad day, I want a hug.”

            “Go hug yourself, bitch!”

            “That doesn’t make any sense, jerk.” Sam lunged, and Dean would have leapt away more or less gracefully, but he’d flung his bag down next to the bed and his foot got trapped in the strap.

            Sam tackled him to the bed, shaking his head so the glitter cascaded onto Dean’s head. Dean beat his fists against Sam’s chest.

            “SAMMY GET OFF ME!”

            Sam was laughing so hard that Dean managed to flip them. They both fell to the floor, Dean gripping Sam in a headlock. “The hell, Sam?”

            Sam was still laughing, batting weakly at Dean’s arm. “Glitter’s a good look on you,” he wheezed.

            Dean looked over his shoulder to the mirror and scowled at the glitter smeared over his face and shoulder. “You little bitch…”

            Sam tried to escape Dean’s hold, but stopped suddenly, wincing as he moved a hand to his ribs. Dean pulled away instantly. “Sam?”

            Sam had his eyes closed. “M’fine.  Just wrenched something. Or at least the clown did.”

            Dean shook his head. “Do you need the first aid kit?”

            “No, I just need to sleep. I’m mostly sore, I’ll be fine.”

            Maybe it was because he was so tired himself, but Dean could hear the lie in Sam’s voice. “You know, I’ve never thanked you.”

            Sam went tense in his hold. “For what?”

            “For not being a bitch about me being scared of planes. I was…man, that was not a good day.”

            “You peed yourself.”

            “And you didn’t bring it up. Until now, at least. And I give you crap about clowns all the time—”

            “Pretty sure that’s your privilege as a big brother,” Sam pointed out. “It’s okay.”

             “Well…I mean…”

            “Dean. Seriously. It’s okay.”

            Dean released Sam from the headlock but kept an arm around him. “It’s okay that you’re scared, Sam.”

            Sam looked at him in shock, then leaned his head down to rest against Dean’s shoulder. “I know it’s stupid…”

            “Shut up. It’s not.” Dean swallowed hard. “The world seems a lot scarier lately, huh?”

            Sam nodded without speaking.

            With Bobby and Cas gone and Leviathans crawling everywhere, Baby on lockdown to keep from getting them in trouble…they only had each other.

            That was all.

            It used to be enough.

            “We’ll be okay, De.”

Dean was startled to hear the old nickname.

“I mean it,” Sam continued. “I wish they were here too, I really do, but we’ll figure this out. We can take care of each other.”

Dean pressed a rough kiss to the top of Sam’s head, surprising both of them. “Damn right we can,” he said quietly. He let the minute go on a bit longer, let himself hold onto his little brother for one last second, then pushed him away as gently as he could. “And right now I’m telling you to take a damn shower. Then you’re going to let me look you over and make sure those juggalos didn’t do anything more than mental scarring…”

Sam rolled his eyes as he pushed himself to his feet.

Dean stood up with him. “Then we’re going to watch that real life mystery thing, okay?”

Sam’s look of happy surprise— _Dr. Sexy_ , _M.D._ was on at the same time, after all—made him grin. “At least we will if you don’t use all the hot water.”

Sam saluted and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Dean listened to the water turn on and let himself breathe for a minute. Sammy was safe, they had a building to sleep in instead of a stolen car, and they were going to get up again tomorrow and keep working to have those things permanently. Even if they had to do it on their own in enemy territory.

He was definitely sleeping in the non-glittery bed though.

**Author's Note:**

> So I looked at the document, turns out I wrote this almost two years ago! I had to clean it up a bit, but yes, now it's out!   
> AND IT IS AN ONESHOT. FOR ONCE. I PROMISE.   
> (So no prompts for a continuation, okay?)   
> Cheers,  
> Acme


End file.
